''Quedex'' is a game released for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

in 1987 by

Thalamus The thalamus (from Greek θάλαμος, "chamber") is a large mass of gray matter located in the dorsal part of the diencephalon (a division of the forebrain). Nerve fibers project out of the thalamus to the cerebral cortex in all directions, ...

. It is the third game developed by Finnish game programmer Stavros Fasoulas. The game consists of ten planes where the player steers a silvery ball and must find an exit square in order to leave the maze-like play-area. The name ''Quedex'' derives from the subtitle "The Quest for Ultimate Dexterity". In 1988, Epyx released ports of ''Quedex'' for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

and

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

under the name ''Mindroll''.

Gameplay

The ten levels can be played in any order the player chooses. The game contains features and challenges such as jumping, going through teleports and finding keys that open gates. Only Planes 4 and 8 feature music, due to their more frenetic nature. Completing a plane took you to a brief bonus plane, in which a set sequence of directions had to be repeated.

Ports

''Quedex'' was released in America by Epyx under the name ''Mindroll'' on the

and MS-DOS in 1988, and on the TRS-80 Color Computer in 1989. Silent Software was behind the conversion. The game also bore Thalamus copyrights. The look and feel of ''Mindroll'' was more bizarre and arcane in nature, with the sphere becoming an eyeball or 8-ball and the plane walls being ornately decorated. However, while the graphics were more colourful, the frame rate dropped greatly on both formats.

Reception

The game was positively reviewed by '' Zzap!64'' who described it as "an original, beautifully designed and superbly implemented puzzle package". It was given an overall score of 92%, earning the magazine's ''Sizzler'' accolade. '' Commodore User'' were also impressed by the game, praising the "superb" graphics and sound and stating that it was "a strange game but a great game". It was awarded a 9/10 overall rating.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Dome.fi - Early years of Finnish games (in Finnish)
1987 video games Amiga games Commodore 64 games Epyx games Puzzle video games Silent Software games Single-player video games Thalamus Ltd games TRS-80_Color_Computer_games Video games developed in Finland